NC has no support base in Jammu, Ladakh: BJP

Terming the claim of Jammu and Kashmir's ruling National Conference (NC) that it represents the entire state as "ridiculous", the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday asked how a party which got only 11.1% of the votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections could make such a claim.

The NC's claim that it represents all three regions -- Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh -- of the state is ridiculous, BJP state unit president and MP Jugal Kishore Sharma said.

"It is a tale of travesty that a party, which got only 11.1% of the total votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections is making such a loud claim," Sharma said.

The NC, like the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Congress, has no support base in the Jammu and Ladakh regions and whatever little support base it has is confined only to a few pockets in the Kashmir Valley, he said, adding that the NC is not even a regional party."The NC is a sub-regional party and it enjoys some support in parts of Kashmir Valley," he said. In the upcoming assembly elections, the NC would lose even that support base as it has become the most unpopular party owing to its acts of omission and commission, he added.

He said the NC and PDP have turned so desperate that they are now toying with the idea of granting general amnesty to those involved in the stone-pelting incidents.Reacting to the NC's demand of "greater autonomy" for the state, the BJP MP said the state's people, barring a few disgruntled elements, is opposed to autonomy and self-rule.

"The people of the state are for mainstream politics. They are committed to the unity and integrity of the country. They eagerly long for a system that ends discrimination with Jammu and Ladakh, harmonises inter-regional relations and defeats communal forces," Sharma said.

Sharma said it is the BJP which represents more than 88% of the area of the state in Parliament and he has no doubt that in the coming assembly polls it will also emerge as a force to reckon with in the Valley as well.People in the Valley are coming forward in large numbers to join the BJP to enable it to not only achieve its 'Mission 44+' but also to lead the state to a new era of development, peace and prosperity, he claimed.

He advised the PDP to not follow in the footsteps of the NC, and said if it continues to vitiate the atmosphere by propagating the pernicious self-rule doctrine, it would also meet the fate the NC and Congress met in the Lok Sabha elections.